I am a liberal. But I am not a pacifist. To quote President Obama, I do not oppose all war, just stupid wars of choice that are not in America’s interest, like Iraq. I approved of going into Afghanistan. We were attacked, for all intents and purposes, by Afghanistan. I was angered when the attention on Afghanistan was diverted to a bullshit war in Iraq. Afghanistan was left to deteriorate to the state it is in today.
And any semi-intelligent observer over the last two to three years knew that Obama was going to escalate our involvement in Afghanistan somehow. He intended and campaigned on a promise to go after those who really attacked us: Bin Laden, Al Queda and the Taliban. So to any liberal acting surprised and shocked today or yesterday, you are a fool. And a disingenuous fool at that.
Essentially, there were three options the President could have chose last night. Some on the left, and perhaps some in the middle and the sane right, wanted the US to leave now. And as I said, Obama was never going to do that. Those on the right want the US to stay until there are no Qaeda elements, no Taliban and a functioning stable democracy not financed by opium. None of these goals are possible or even reasonable, and if those are actually our goals we will be in Afghanistan until the end of time. But that is what the fans of perpetual war want: perpetual war. The best we can hope for is a relatively functioning government that can defend itself against the Taliban. That is the exit strategy we are using in leaving Iraq. If it is good for Iraq, it is good for Afghanistan.
The middle option between the two extremes is what Obama is pursuing. He is giving the Generals what they want now and giving them 2 years to achieve that limited goal of a relatively functioning government. If it works, great, we get to leave. If it fails, well, sorry guys we tried is what Obama will say. The right wing will accuse Obama of weakness no matter what he does. If Obama deployed the entirety of our volunteer army to Afghanistan the GOP would ask for a compulsory draft. If Obama promised to stay in Afghanistan until the end of time, the GOP will insist that we stay beyond the Rapture.
Personally, I think we have a serious President who actually thought about his options in Afghanistan from every conceivable angle. Those who do not think about their decisions and were negligent in sending our boys and girls to their deaths in Iraq call that “dithering.” I call it what I wanted. I wanted a serious intelligent President who made the best decision after careful analysis. I think he has made the best decision here after a careful real analysis.
How do I know it is the best decision?
Because he pissed off everyone. Liberals and Conservatives.
So I will support the President and his decision for now. For now. If this plan fails, I want us out. If this plan works, I want us out. That is Obama’s plan as I heard it last night. If he deviates from it “according to the conditions on the ground,” then he will lose my support.